The 2nd race winner that paid $23.60 was the 4-1 third choice on the program, and was driven by the track's leading driver, Cat Manzi. Based on the program odds and the driver (by the way it was a Manzi-Manzi double) the DD price isn't that odd. For some reason the horse got overlooked in the win pool.

The 2nd race winner that paid $23.60 was the 4-1 third choice on the program, and was driven by the track's leading driver, Cat Manzi. Based on the program odds and the driver (by the way it was a Manzi-Manzi double) the DD price isn't that odd. For some reason the horse got overlooked in the win pool.

With all due respect Paul, I'm not buying that theory. Somebody pounded that double and you know it.

With all due respect Paul, I'm not buying that theory. Somebody pounded that double and you know it.

Dan:If the horse had gone off close to its program odds...say it paid $10 or $12 to win, no one would give it a second thought. This happens fairly frequently at Freehold on weekdays, because the pools are relatively small, particularly in the early races. It doesn't take a very big bet to distort the payoffs.

After doing a little more research, I figured out exactly what happened here. The daily double price was fair and square...it was the win pool in the second race that was distorted. The #3 horse, Brighton N, making his second start in the US for owner/trainer/driver Rick Pantano ( a guy who owns a landscaping business and can't drive a horse to save his life) got inexplicably bet down from 10-1 to3-1, but was not bet heavily in the daily double. No doubt Pantano, who loves to bet when he thinks he can win (which is almost never) had his money down on the horse's nose, but failed to pull it off, finishing third.

Or do you think Rick made a couple of $50 doubles with his horse and missed the first half and then tried to get his money back on a win bet Paul??

Doesn't appear that way, SN. The lowest DD probable with Pantano's horse was about $50, and all the probables were pretty much in line with the first race horses' odds. Looks like he ignored the doubles and pounded his horse in the win pool. He didn't even bet heavily on himself on top in the exactas. Cheapest exacta, with him on top of the #1 horse ( The 3-1 morning line favorite and 4/5 betting chalk) was coming back about $35.